‘A Window in the Wall’

Pearl Lam Fine Art presents a new group show, entitled ‘Window in the Wall: India and China - Imaginary Conversations’.

An explanatory note to this major art show explains how China and India are now the world’s two most populous and powerful nations with the fast-growing economies, adding that both countries are right on the cusp of a new global order that puts them at the center of world scrutiny.

“As a consequence of their rise in prominence, Chinese and Indian art are playing a more significant role in the international art market with some Indian and Chinese artists attracting a global following. Relations between India and China date back to ancient times. Both their cultures reflect an artistic and humanist exchange. Today through economic and diplomatic ties spurred by their rapid growths, they have entered into mutually beneficial dialogue,” it elaborates.

"The past in India and China is essentially viewed as a spiritual realm, whereas the present relates to the fast-transient materialistic world - a commercial and industrial playground. The metaphor of the wall in this exhibit denotes not only the relation between the past & the present, but also extends itself to a demarcation of two contrasting cultural extremities: introversion and extroversion, spirituality and materialism. The coexistence of these two opposing extremities has influenced and shaped the two cultures."

It tends to reflect these two extremities in a coexistence of reality and fiction, imaginary past and futuristic visions. For example, relating to the universal theme of existential exploration, photographer and video artist Cui Xiuwen transcends gender, culture and time in her Existential Emptiness series (2009).

Selected Indian and Chinese works from Window in the Wall were on view at Pearl Lam Fine Art’s booth at the 5th edition of SH-Contemporary 2011, Asia Pacific Contemporary Art Fair, from September 8-10, at the Shanghai Exhibition Center. ‘A Window in the Wall’ continues at the gallery venue until November 9, 2011.